Tuesday, November 5, 2013

Irons in the Fire

Nonplayer #2 has passed another milestone -- both linework and first-pass color are now in place, and I'm doing the polish pass now (adding shadows, gradients, highlights, and other atmospheric stuff). It's far enough along that I've been able to show it to a few compatriots, and the response so far has been a unanimous "it's better than the first one." Assuming they're not just telling me what I want to hear (and there are quite a few really mean people in the bunch, so I think I'm getting good data), all this toil may not have been in vain after all.

Building cathedrals over a span of centuries is all well and good, and I look forward to jumping right into bricklaying for #3. That said, I have been nurturing a second story in my spare (ha!) time, and it looks like all the pieces are in place to launch a new web comic around the end of the year. This one is going to be a lot faster than Nonplayer, chiefly because I'm not drawing it! I've found someone much better than myself to handle the art duties so that I can focus on improving my writing (with a tiny bit of concepting on the side). And this artist -- I can't wait for you to see his stuff. He's amazing.

I can't get into too much detail about the project because I'd like it to be a surprise, but I am at least as excited about it as I am about Nonplayer. It's got alien monsters in it. And muffins, lots of muffins.

Why a web comic? Partly out of curiosity. It's the 21st century and all, and I wonder whether this new story may appeal to readers who might not normally cross paths with a print comic. There are a lot of eyeballs on the internet, and I'd like to see if I'm able to grab a few of them. I like the idea of gathering the content at the end of each year and funding the printed collections through Kickstarter. I like that it feels like we're setting sail in our own little pirate ship, and there's nothing but uncharted water ahead.

More than anything, it feels great to have a second iron in the fire. I know that web comics are rarely a path to riches, but a second book means twice as many chances for me to finagle my way into a career as a full-time comic creator. I have a fantasy that this new comic will help me find more hours to work on Nonplayer, so that the bricklaying can happen at some other time than 3am (yes, I've moved my daily drawing time forward to 3am, which means that I now see dead people).

2014 is shaping up to be a lovely year -- full of robots, swords, monsters and muffins. Life is good.

12 comments:

Thanks Chris. No solid ETA, as I keep making predictions that turn out to be inaccurate by several years. But I can say that the linework is done, the first-pass color is done, and the shadows/lighting pass is about 75% done. New baby means I have to fight for every hour I spend on the book, but they say that sleep starts to happen more after the first year. It's been rough, but I think we're close.

#2 is never going to happen is it? It's been over 4 months since this blog post where things seem to be 75% finished and the book still has yet to see the light of day. It's too bad, there was such potential.

#2 is happening, just very slowly due to new-parent duties and day job. It is almost finished, but it's very difficult to find time to do polish when you've got an infant waking up five times a night. All I can say is I'm doing my best. If you feel I'm not living up to my potential, I welcome your constructive input.

Nate, please don't let anyone get you down. I loved the first issue, and will patiently wait for more. It is worth the wait. Having a new baby is a TON of work, and joy. Spend time with your family. #2 will be a success! You are a rockstar!

Artist "much better than" yourself? Self-deprecation is charming and all but come on - one issue out there in the world and I'd handily compare your work to people like JH Williams and Nick Pitarra. I'm sure issue 2 will be worth the wait. No pressure of course ;)